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(pages 85-86)

Dobra(District of Turek)

Translated by Shmuel Kehati

Population Statistics

Year

TotalPopulation

JewishPopulation

1764/65

?

355

1808

908

507

1827

2,120

1,058

1857

2,407

1,300

1897

2,719

1,185

1921

3,055

1,207

1.9.1939

?

Aprox. 1,000

Dobra obtained city status before 1514, lost it in 1870 and regained it after 1918.

It is know that from the beginning of the 17th
century a Jewish community existed in Dobra. The leaders of the community
were very involved in the activities of the Council of the Four Lands.
Most of the Jews earned a living based on trade. In the middle of the 18th
century, Dobra had 3 inn-keepers, 3 whiskey makers, 11 tailors, 4 furriers,
2 smugglers, 2 glass cutters (glazers), 2 butchers and 3 barbers. The community
had 3 beadles (Shamashim) and a shelter for the poor, sick and needy
(Hekdesh). During the 19th century the Jews of Dobra were amongst
the entrepreneurs who established a textile industry in town. At the end
of the century, Jews owned flour-mills and small oil factories. Also, they
dealt in leather, fabric manufacturing and crafts.

The community institutions were built at the end of the
18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. Rabbi Hersz Ber was
elected Rabbi of the community in 1850 and served for more than 20 years.
There were Chassidic Minyanim in Dobra, as well as a charity fund (established
in 1901). A committee for helping the poor and comforting the sick operated
in Dobra at the beginning of the 20th century, as well as a a Jewish school
(Talmud Torah). A Zionist youth organization (Agudat Tsieri Zion) was established
towards the end of the First World War, when the German authorities allowed
community activities. The movement had 70 members in 1918, and a library,
which attracted many of the Jewish youth.

The economic conditions of Dobra's Jews declined between
the two World Wars. The charity fund resumed its operation and provided
assistance to merchants and craftsmen that suffered due to the Polish economic
boycott.

The Orthodox community, which was under the influence
of Agudat Israel, had control over the community institutions. The Zionist
circles in Dobra were mostly under the regional leadership of Kalisz. Up
to 50 voting delegates were sent to the Zionist Congress. The Zionists
of Dobra belonged mainly to the following: General Zionist Movement (Al
HaMishmar), League for Working Israel, Mizrachi, Revisionist Movement and
Betar.

Groups of Polish Anti-Semites harmed Jewish merchants
in June 1937, destroying merchandise and damaging their stands.

Immediately following the occupation of the town by the
Germans during the first half of September 1939, Jews were taxed, taken
hostage, badly beaten and sent to forced labor. The Judenrat was established
in December 1939, and under the orders of the Germans, was in charge of
the forced labor and the registration of the Jewish population. During
1940 Jews were confined to the ghetto. In October 1941 the Jews, including
the last Rabbi of Dobra, Dov Ber Issachar, were transferred to a rural
ghetto near Kowale Panskie. There they suffered the same destiny as that
suffered by the rest of the Jews in the area.